Cole: 9 Months

I can't believe we're so close to Cole turning One.  It's craziness!!!  Last week I took him to Dr. W for his 9 month appointment.  I thought we were going to get to skip shots for that appointment but somehow we had missed one of his Hep B shots so he got one anyway.  Poor guy.  He currently weighs 19lbs 6oz.  He's 27 1/4 in long and his head circumference is 17 3/4.  His head didn't grow any since his 6 month appt but she thought the measurements just weren't taken correctly at his last appt.  We'll see how the number goes at his one year appt.  I am still calling him my lazy baby.  He has started to hold his bottle if we put his hands on it but he won't do it unassisted.  He's rolling around to get places.  I talked to Dr. W about my concerns with him not crawling but she said as long as he can get from point A to point B there isn't anything to worry about.  He may not crawl at all and just go straight to walking.  Although even that seems so far away.  He has no desire to even stand on his own or put weight on his legs for more than a minute at a time.  I've said it before but he is so different from Caitlyn.  And it's hard for me to not compare them!  He doesn't have any teeth yet although she said they were close.  He doesn't want to eat actual food yet.  We just got him eating his baby food on a consistent basis.  He does love the yogurt bites though and will pick those up and put them in his mouth and eat them.  Any other solids that we give him he just spits back out.  He doesn't even try to chew and eat it.  I'm going to try to use the mesh feeder with him more to see if that helps to teach him to actually chew his food.  We'll see how that goes.   Caitlyn can make him laugh like no one else can and it's music to my ears!  I could listen to the 2 of them go back and forth all day long!  He also loves to cuddle and I could kiss on him forever and a day!  Seriously love this little boy!!!   

Florida Vacation Part Two

We spent the majority of our days in Florida either at the pool or at the beach.  The best way to show this is by pictures…enjoy!!! 

Florida Vacation 2012 Part One

I'm thinking day one needs a post of its own. It was a long one!

We got up at 3:30 so we could be at the airport by 5:30 as our flight was supposed to leave at 7:00 Saturday morning. Beth and I had checked in online Friday night and paid for our luggage at that time as well. My check in with bags went smoothly but Beth had a problem with seating because Harrison was going to be sitting on her lap. Apparently that didn't transfer through when she checked in online. That took about 40 min to straighten out. We then go through security with no problems and are waiting for our plane to board at our gate. We can see the plane there but it's after 7:00 and they haven't started boarding. They announce that there is a mechanical issue and are waiting on the mechanic. About 10 minutes later they start calling people one by one up to the desk. They have to re-route the entire flight onto other flights because the mechanic isn't even on site yet. So they switch our flight and give us food vouchers only good that day at any airport. We are now going through Atlanta instead of Memphis (no big deal…just a much bigger airport to navigate). We go across the terminal to the gate we are now flying out of and it's packed and pure mayhem! Beth and Josh get upgraded to first class….Jared and I get split up with me sitting in row 10 with Cole and Jared sitting in row 36 with Caitlyn over the engines which are loud and no windows. Really disappointing for Caitlyn's first flight ever. During the flight a woman started having seizures at the front of the plane, someone started yelling for a Dr. and it was a little crazy for awhile. But the kids did really well and we survived the first flight of the day!


The Atlanta airport and our layover was uneventful. We had to eat pretty fast to make our next flight but nothing earth shattering happened.


We land in Tampa at about 12:30 and let the kids play in the play area for a little while. We go get our luggage and head to the car rental area. Only to find that our rental company isn't located at the airport but we have to take a shuttle to get there. We go back over to baggage claim and just miss the first shuttle. We had to wait about 20 min for the next one. We get to the rental place and it's a tiny place in a strip mall with only room inside for people who are signing in. So we wait outside in the heat with the kids while Beth goes inside. Next thing I know she comes out and says they didn't have a mini-van available but were going to upgrade us to an Acadia. Yes, the Acadia has a 3rd row seat but with 4 adults and 3 car seats it was not going to work. There was no way we'd all fit comfortably. We weren't going to fit super comfortably in the minivan as it was. Beth told them that the Acadia may be an upgrade for some, but not for everyone. They were not accommodating at all. Then we find out that they wanted to charge an additional $10 a day for any additional drivers. Well Beth didn't want to drive all week so we changed the primary driver to Jared. While he was in there making that change a minivan came back and was available. So we got what we reserved in the end. The car seats were another debacle. During all this Caitlyn had to go to the bathroom and the rental place didn't have one. So I took her over to the Marriott to use their restroom. When we walked in I asked where the restroom was. They then asked if we were from the rental place and I said yes. Then they informed me that we couldn't use their bathrooms but that the Hilton across the street would allow it. I will never use Marriott again due to that. Are you freaking kidding me? I have a 3 year old with me who needs to go potty and you're going to make us go somewhere else? I was completely in tears at this point. It took about 2 hours at the rental place to get everything set up and car seats in the car and on our way to Christy's.

The rest of the day was glorious! We got to Christy's and got ready to go out for dinner. Jenna was a doll and babysat the kids so we could go out just us adults (and Cole tagged along with us). We went to a restaurant called Banana Cabana and it was wonderful! Christy says they have new owners and it wasn't as good as normal but since I have nothing to compare it to it was wonderful! So good. Then we went across the street to the beach with the sunset. It was beautiful! We even waded out a ways into the water. It was a perfect night to start out the vacation!

Kitchen Remodel

Back in February Jared sends me this picture while I'm at work. 

I freaked a little but he had a guy who came out and gave us a bid and Jared was ready to do the demolition while he was slow with work.  We're taking out a load bearing wall and this guy wouldn't put in the beam that we want.  He wanted to put something in that hung down 24 inches.  And since then it's been a roller coaster ride.  Jared has done a lot of research on this.  Calculating the slope of the roof and what would hold that weight.  Since we live in a snowy climate  in the winter we have to factor in what a foot of snow weighs on the roof as well.  It hasn't been easy.  He found that the steel beams which will only hang down 12 inches is what we want to do.  But apparently 2 places in Omaha sell these beams but we can't find anyone to install them.  It's so frustrating!  We had another guy come in but he wasn't comfortable with the steal beams so his bid was different from the first guy but the beam would still hang down 18 inches.  If we're spending this kind of money we want to do this right.  But I'm getting inpatient.  Cole is going to be crawling within a month and I don't want the studs from the wall still there when that happens.  It would be a disaster trying to keep him away from that once he's mobile!  We had a 3rd contractor out yesterday and Jared was really impressed with him.  Hopeful that his bid is reasonable and we can move forward soon!

We went and looked at cabinets at Home Depot with Darci last weekend.  Jared gave her all the measurements and she went to town.  Jared started getting a little sticker shock but felt much better after going to see her and seeing everything that was included in the price.  We've got most of it picked out including the facing and the color of the cabinets.  It made me even more anxious to get the beam in and the walls down! 

I'm so ready to have my kitchen done with all the bells and whistles! 

Poor Puppy

Two weeks ago Zeus hurt his back leg.  We let it go for a couple of days but it didn't seem to get any better like it usually does when he hurts himself.  So we  made an appt to take him to the vet.  Our vet was out of the office so I made an appt with another vet in his office.  I will never do this again.  I will be telling Dr. J that he's not allowed days off anymore.  Jared ended up taking him in because he was off early that day so I wouldn't have to take time off.  They thought maybe he had torn an ACL after taking an xray and gave him some morphine for the pain and an anti-inflammatory for the knee. 

He got better for a couple of days and then his leg started bothering him again.  And he started throwing up all over the house.  And he started having troubles pooping.  It was diarrhea like mixed with blood.  All. Over. Our. Carpet.  I was pissed because I thought he had ate something he shouldn't have and that was making him sick.    After 2 nights of no sleep because he kept getting up getting sick and wanting to go out I took him back to the vet.  What are the odds that my vet is out again and I have to see the same vet that Jared saw last week?  Pretty good apparently!  So he thinks maybe Zeus is having a liver reaction which can be a side effect of the anti-inflammatory he prescribes.  He was getting ready to take him for a blood panel and I'm not sure why but I asked to make sure that he knew that Zeus was taking Prednisone for his allergies.  He stopped in his tracks and I swear he went white.  He starts thumbing through the file.  He didn't know.  He didn't read the file prior to prescribing new meds.  It was on the first page after his notes from our previous visit.  Are you kidding me?  What Dr doesn't ready the file?  At least glance at it!  So he takes Zeus back and gives him a shot of prevacid and pumps him full of fluids.  He gives us 3 different meds to heal his tummy.  The anti-inflammatory mixed with the Prednisone gives blood stomach ulcers.  Great.  Needless to say I didn't pay for that visit or any of the stomach meds.  I also asked for a refund for the anti inflammatory he prescribed that shouldn't have been. 

Zeus didn't eat for 5 days.  He didn't take his Prednisone for about 4 days and because of that I'm pretty sure he got another staph infection.  He's feeling better now though.  He's not eating full meals like before but he is eating and he's not throwing up or having diarrhea issues any longer.  He's definitely back to his annoying self! 

He's also Cole's sidekick...much more than he ever was with Caitlyn.  He's in about 50% of the pictures I take of Cole at home! 

Opposites Part 2

I talked about how different Caitlyn and Cole were during pregnancy here.  Thought I should update how different they still are comparing them as babies. 

Caitlyn: Had colic and reflux as an infant.  She outgrew the colic by 3 months.
Cole: No colic but did also have reflux.  Most pictures of both of them as babies they have bibs on because they were/are constantly spitting up. 

Caitlyn: When eating would hold onto her bottle as if her life depended on it.  She wouldn't let go for anything!
Cole: Can hold his bottle but doesn't have any desire to do so.  Just very laid back. 

Caitlyn: Sucked her thumb...who am I kidding...she still does!  She refused the pacifier from the beginning!
Cole: Took a pacifier and so far hasn't shown too many signs that he'll switch to thumb sucking.  Every once in awhile I catch him with a thumb in his mouth but I don't think it means anything!

Caitlyn: Was taking 2 good naps (morning and afternoon) and sleeping through the night at 3 months.
Cole: takes an ok morning nap and usually a great afternoon nap and just started sleeping through the night (only in his carseat) at 5 1/2 months. 

Caitlyn: When we introduced baby food...ate it up from the first bite at 4 months!
Cole: Has been a little more reluctant to start baby food and refused cereal all together. 

I know there are more I'm not thinking of.  I'll have to write them down for part 3! 

Cole's 6 Month Stats

I'm posting this 2 days late as I wanted to include a 6 month picture!

My little guy is 6 months today and we celebrated with a visit to the dr and shots in his legs...poor little guy!  He's weighing 15 lbs and 13 oz now (up to the 25th percentile), he's 26 1/2 in long (35th percentile) and his head circumfernce is 17 in (35th percentile).  He's a healthy baby and got a clean bill of health! 

Things he's doing now: 

• Rolling from tummy to back and back to tummy.  Although a lot of times when he rolls from back to tummy he promptly forgets he can roll back to his back! 
• Grabs at toys and brings them to his mouth.
• Grabs his feet and almost has them in his mouth!
• Loves to be tickeled!  Not sure if this is a baby thing or what but Caitlyn always loved to be tickeled and still does at age 3! 
• Grabs his bottle but doesn't really hold on to it.  Not because he can't but because he doesn't care to. 
• Still doesn't really sit up on his own at all.  But we're practicing and we'll get there!  He does great in the bumbo although it looks like he's usually trying to climb out of the thing! 
• Loves bouncing in his jumperoo! 
• He's eating some baby food.  I tried for about 2 months to get him to eat cereal but he wasn't having it.  He'd gag and spit it out every time.  Even cereal with fruit mixed in.  So I finally started him on apples and he did better.  Then sweet potatoes which he loves and now banana's which he also seems to love!  Next up is squash! 
• He's drinking 4 or 5 6 oz bottles a day. 
• He usually takes a short morning nap and then a longer afternoon nap and is sleeping through the night....but only if he's in the carseat.  The pedi this morning said not to worry about that, the carseat isn't bad for him to be sleeping in and just try at least once a week to get him to sleep in his crib instead.  Last night did not go well in this endeavor!  He slept from 8:30 til 10 and then was up every 15 min until I put him in his carseat and he slept without a peep for the rest of the night!  Not a good habit to be in. 
• Caitlyn makes him laugh all the time!  It is so adorable and she just eats it up!